Assessment of bone turnover by measurement of serum estradiol and interleukin-6

This study included twenty-six postmenopausal women and twenty premenopausal ones in a trial to understand how estrogen performs its antiosteoporotic action. Serum estradiol, interleukin 6 [IL-6] and osteocalcin were measured. A highly significant difference in serum estradiol and IL-6 was found between the two groups. It could be concluded that estrogen exerted its antiosteoporotic effect by modulating the production of IL-6, thus inhibiting its stimulatory effect on osteoblasts